The Secret Diary of a Marie Kondo Follower
My home was a great candidate for the decluttering craze. Here's what happened when I tried to sort it, KonMari-style
After being inspired by the Netflix TV series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, I lay in bed and compiled lists of ways I could reduce clutter in my house. Initially, I was excited. I love tidy houses. I love being organised and having neat drawers and shelves. However, the process that is necessary to acquire this kind of interior magic has always terrified me. Armed with Kondo’s bestselling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organising, I set out to transform my house, and consequently transform my life. At least that was what I hoped would happen.
I am a mother of two boys with a busy husband in a house with very little storage. The main bedroom is home to a surfboard, two big boxes of toilet paper (don’t ask), and a vacuum cleaner hidden behind a door that never opens properly.
It is also my study, our wardrobe, and home to a lot of things we never use or look at anymore. I’m pretty sure my husband’s thesis is on the crammed-to-overflowing bookshelf, along with many novels – most read, some attempted, and others buried two layers deep. So no, I definitely won’t start here.
Need to outsource your home organisation to an expert? Find a professional organiser on Houzz near you for custom-designed storage systems
It is also my study, our wardrobe, and home to a lot of things we never use or look at anymore. I’m pretty sure my husband’s thesis is on the crammed-to-overflowing bookshelf, along with many novels – most read, some attempted, and others buried two layers deep. So no, I definitely won’t start here.
Need to outsource your home organisation to an expert? Find a professional organiser on Houzz near you for custom-designed storage systems
Start with my clothes…
Marie Kondo tells us to start decluttering with an item, not a location, so I decided to start with clothes. Not just mine, but my children’s as well.
This process began by pulling everything out of the wardrobes, hanging spaces and drawers then going through every single item and considering each piece. Do I/they still wear this? Does this garment spark joy? Had I forgotten about it? Why did I buy linen flares? Why do I keep buying mini skirts?
Marie Kondo tells us to start decluttering with an item, not a location, so I decided to start with clothes. Not just mine, but my children’s as well.
This process began by pulling everything out of the wardrobes, hanging spaces and drawers then going through every single item and considering each piece. Do I/they still wear this? Does this garment spark joy? Had I forgotten about it? Why did I buy linen flares? Why do I keep buying mini skirts?
For me, this first step was difficult. I love clothes and I have a lot of them. I also love food, so I have clothes for the many different sizes I’ve been, and am at present. Despite the challenge, I considered which clothes ‘sparked joy’ and which of them sparked joy but were ‘way too small’.
In the end, common sense won and I got rid of a lot of clothes I still love but don’t fit into. No person needs 12 black singlet tops unless it’s their waiter’s uniform.
Browse more minimalist, white-toned bedrooms
In the end, common sense won and I got rid of a lot of clothes I still love but don’t fit into. No person needs 12 black singlet tops unless it’s their waiter’s uniform.
Browse more minimalist, white-toned bedrooms
…And my kids’ clothes
I had no intention of tackling my boys’ clothes on my own so rallied my troops to get started. You can imagine their joy and sheer willingness to get the job done.
While they pulled their clothes out of their drawers, I made some piles: for charity, for a friend’s son, and for rags. As the children lay laughing in the mountain of clothes on their beds, I sighed deeply and began.
I was fast and furious with their clothes, and they got into the swing of it eventually. Their drawers are now beautifully empty and ready for the new school year. We also uncovered some hidden gems; cool t-shirts we’d forgotten about because they had been buried so deep.
I had no intention of tackling my boys’ clothes on my own so rallied my troops to get started. You can imagine their joy and sheer willingness to get the job done.
While they pulled their clothes out of their drawers, I made some piles: for charity, for a friend’s son, and for rags. As the children lay laughing in the mountain of clothes on their beds, I sighed deeply and began.
I was fast and furious with their clothes, and they got into the swing of it eventually. Their drawers are now beautifully empty and ready for the new school year. We also uncovered some hidden gems; cool t-shirts we’d forgotten about because they had been buried so deep.
Wardrobe decluttering is most definitely a process that reaps rewards. I had never taken everything out before and it was discomforting to see how many clothes we all had and thought we needed. Even my children were amazed.
There were many things in their wardrobes that had not been worn more than a handful of times. Time to stop buying so many items of clothing.
The KonMari Method: A Professional Organiser Investigates
There were many things in their wardrobes that had not been worn more than a handful of times. Time to stop buying so many items of clothing.
The KonMari Method: A Professional Organiser Investigates
Kitchen clutter
Like our bedroom, the kitchen had become a storage centre for more than just kitchen utensils, although I soon realised I had as much kitchen equipment as a small restaurant. Every drawer was full to overflowing and cupboards were bursting at the seams with gifts, various ill-conceived purchases, and many appliances I thought would either make my life easier or make my cooking better, and they probably would have, had I been able to find them.
Like our bedroom, the kitchen had become a storage centre for more than just kitchen utensils, although I soon realised I had as much kitchen equipment as a small restaurant. Every drawer was full to overflowing and cupboards were bursting at the seams with gifts, various ill-conceived purchases, and many appliances I thought would either make my life easier or make my cooking better, and they probably would have, had I been able to find them.
Clearing out my kitchen was probably the part of the process I enjoyed the most because I could see, even while in the thick of it, that changes made here would make my life easier, clearer and simpler. Again, I was shocked at how much food I actually had. I can miss shopping for groceries for a few weeks. At least until the kids get sick of pasta.
Straightforward organisation in the kitchen goes a long way, and there is a tendency to hoard things we don’t really use here. Be ruthless. It is liberating to say goodbye to items you don’t use, want, or need. It also makes the actual job of preparing and cooking food so much easier.
10 Easy Steps to a Clutter-Free Kitchen
10 Easy Steps to a Clutter-Free Kitchen
The bathroom
There’s nothing like a lovely bath in a clean and tidy bathroom, where no toys or stray bottles of old body scrubs fall in with you. There’s also something wonderful about opening a bathroom drawer and not being faced with all the make-up you’ve ever owned, thrown in together with a few old toothbrushes and some tiny toiletry bottles from long-gone holidays. These were the small changes I hoped to achieve in my KonMari transformation of our family bathroom.
There’s nothing like a lovely bath in a clean and tidy bathroom, where no toys or stray bottles of old body scrubs fall in with you. There’s also something wonderful about opening a bathroom drawer and not being faced with all the make-up you’ve ever owned, thrown in together with a few old toothbrushes and some tiny toiletry bottles from long-gone holidays. These were the small changes I hoped to achieve in my KonMari transformation of our family bathroom.
Marie Kondo talks a lot about organising our drawers and spaces well, but perhaps more importantly, not actually keeping or purchasing things we don’t use or need.
Again, in my bathroom I was shocked to realise I had stockpiled so many basic toiletries. I seemed to be preparing for some type of catastrophic event that would cause all pharmacies to permanently shut down. I had enough hair products to start my own salon, and mascara is obviously my go-to purchase when I want to update my make-up collection. I got rid of everything I hadn’t used recently, or that was used or dried up, and I kept the hair products. Now that I can see them, I’ll use them.
Again, the task begins by hauling everything out. Seeing our ‘things’ in a new location, out of their habitat, does make us realise how excessive we are. Then more sorting piles, a thorough clean for the bathroom, and finally that bath.
9 Organising Lessons We Can Learn From Tiny Spaces
Again, in my bathroom I was shocked to realise I had stockpiled so many basic toiletries. I seemed to be preparing for some type of catastrophic event that would cause all pharmacies to permanently shut down. I had enough hair products to start my own salon, and mascara is obviously my go-to purchase when I want to update my make-up collection. I got rid of everything I hadn’t used recently, or that was used or dried up, and I kept the hair products. Now that I can see them, I’ll use them.
Again, the task begins by hauling everything out. Seeing our ‘things’ in a new location, out of their habitat, does make us realise how excessive we are. Then more sorting piles, a thorough clean for the bathroom, and finally that bath.
9 Organising Lessons We Can Learn From Tiny Spaces
Organising bathrooms is all about keeping it simple. Keeping the products you use within easy reach, or packed away neatly in a cupboard or drawer, makes the bathroom much easier to clean.
End Morning Madness! 4 Steps to Organised Bathroom Storage
End Morning Madness! 4 Steps to Organised Bathroom Storage
The Marie Kondo method, and really any tidying-up method like this, enables you to take stock of your material life. I have found that this was the most valuable thing I have taken away from the whole experience, and while I still have some big areas to tackle, my house is so much brighter, cleaner and more organised; I feel like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
The process has reminded me that I don’t need to go out and buy everything. I’ll usually find what I need right here at home, and if I don’t, do I really want it to take up space in my life? Probably not. Unless of course it’s a book; they’re next on my list, and I’m already struggling with how I’ll cull something I truly love.
In case you were wondering, I’m yet to tackle the main bedroom. I’ll get to it right after I finish my next Netflix reality-TV series. I think this one really will transform my life.
Your turn
Have you used the KonMari method? Tell us your experience and decluttering tips in the Comments below, like and share this story with those you live with, save the images and join the conversation.
More
Can’t bring yourself to face decluttering your home solo? Find a professional organiser in your area who can guide you through the process
The process has reminded me that I don’t need to go out and buy everything. I’ll usually find what I need right here at home, and if I don’t, do I really want it to take up space in my life? Probably not. Unless of course it’s a book; they’re next on my list, and I’m already struggling with how I’ll cull something I truly love.
In case you were wondering, I’m yet to tackle the main bedroom. I’ll get to it right after I finish my next Netflix reality-TV series. I think this one really will transform my life.
Your turn
Have you used the KonMari method? Tell us your experience and decluttering tips in the Comments below, like and share this story with those you live with, save the images and join the conversation.
More
Can’t bring yourself to face decluttering your home solo? Find a professional organiser in your area who can guide you through the process
I love minimalism. I especially love minimalist bedrooms. I love the idea of an empty, cavernous bedroom with a beautiful, preferably huge bed, a pure-cotton quilt and perhaps a striking piece of art hung tastefully on one wall. But this is not my reality.